Fewer Latino males getting college degrees, study finds

For several decades now, the number of U.S. women in colleges and universities has outpaced those of U.S. men, perpetuating a college gender gap that has dumbfounded experts for decades. This year, a new study by the American Council on Education says the gaps between men and women have begun to close except in one subset: Latino males. The overall trend started in the 1970s.

Today, 57 percent of all U.S. undergrads are women; 43 percent are male, and the disparity is present across race and ethnicity. The numbers had remain static since 2003, until this year.

“Raising the attainment rate of Hispanic men — and women — looms as one of the most significant challenges facing American education,” said Jacqueline King of the American Council on Education’s Center for Policy Analysis. “In order for the attainment rate of Hispanic young men to rise, degree production will have to outpace population growth or immigration will have to slow.”